Cherrypicker | Literature   Nameless and Invisible

Even in a rich country like Germany, there is poverty, injustice and exploitation. This selection of non-fiction books for adults and children provides personal insights, explains backgrounds, raises awareness and denounces.

"Personally, I have nothing against the rich, I just hate them" - this rather sensational quote is on the back of Olivier David's Von der namenlosen Menge (Of the Nameless Crowd), in which the author and journalist, born in Hamburg in 1988, writes "about class, anger and loneliness". It is an indictment of the price that the lower class pays in many ways to enable the lives of the upper classes. David himself grew up in Hamburg-Altona. He worked in a supermarket, as a painter's assistant, waiter, warehouse worker, and actor. At 30, he made the lateral move into journalism. However, his book is not intended to be a story of upward mobility, because these types of stories often contribute to the narrative that it is up to the individual to find a way out of a humiliating existence.

Capitalism on Trial

David questions our social structures. Isolation is a mechanism that drives people from the lower classes in particular into "internal migration". In addition, although there is a sense of belonging to the social class, this does not give rise to solidarity. People from the lower class know their "place in the world". David refers to various sociologists. Pierre Bourdieu is one of them, whose book Distinction. A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste he quotes. According to Bourdieu, the social situation is "determined by the totality of what it is not, in particular by what is opposed to it: social identity gains contour and is confirmed by difference". In writer Didier Eribon's novel Returning to Reims, David reads that poor people are well aware of the possibility of a different life, "but this elsewhere lies in such an unattainable, separate universe that one feels neither excluded nor disadvantaged if one is denied access to the self-evident things of others. That's how the world is ordered, full stop."

Based on his own life experiences, David vividly and movingly criticises the social conditions in our capitalist system.  He writes about conditions and feelings that hurt, some of which are individualised and thus delegitimised: Loneliness, illness, fear, anger and hatred. One chapter contains a moving letter to his French father, whom he barely knew. David fears becoming his father's "coloniser" when he writes about his life, thereby taking away his power of interpretation. Anyone interested in thematically related texts by David can read his column David versus Goliath in the online magazine Das Lamm, where an extract from his latest book also appeared.

Germany, a Low-Wage Country

Journalist Sascha Lübbe takes a systematic look at injustice and exploitation in his book Ganz unten im System (At the very bottom of the system). The title is based on a classic of German investigative journalism, Ganz unten (Lowest of the Low, 1985) by Günter Wallraff. Back then, Wallraff assumed the identity of a Turkish labourer called "Ali", worked in various factories and describes in his book the inhumane treatment of the so-called Gastarbeiter (guest workers) he experienced himself. Lübbe did not slip into any role for his book. However, he spent over a year visiting and interviewing individual migrant workers. They mainly came from three sectors: the construction industry, the meat industry and transport.

Even though society has changed in the 40 years or so since Wallraff's book was published, an exploitative parallel world of labour still exists in Germany, in which the “Alis” of today are trapped. However, many migrant workers no longer come from the “old” guest worker countries, but from Romania, Poland and Bulgaria, but also from Ukraine or Uzbekistan, Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan.

Trapped in the System

Lübbe achieves two things with his fact-based and stirring book: he vividly describes the precarious working and living situations based on individual cases and presents the system responsible for this in an understandable way. In the chapters in which he portrays people labouring in the low-wage sector, they themselves have their say. They live crammed together in run-down flats, sometimes at inflated rents. They are denied holidays and sometimes receive their wages under the table or not at all. Even going to the toilet is regulated. They are not even allowed to be ill, otherwise they not only lose their job, but often also their home or, in some cases, their right of residence.

In addition to the vividly written reports, Lübbe describes the underlying system of subcontractors. The clients, the so-called general contractors, are also caught up in this system. Without the subcontractors, they would not even know how to acquire enough labour. In addition, cost and therefore wage dumping is also encouraged by the fact that in public sector tenders, for example, the bidder with the cheapest offer is awarded the contract. In some sectors, such as the meat industry, Germany is even a low-wage country compared to its neighbours Denmark and the Netherlands.

The Ugly Edge of Our Prosperity

Lübbe does not paint a black-and-white picture; he certainly points to progress, such as the (planned) Tariftreuegesetz (The Law on Collective Labour Agreements) or Arbeitsschutzkontrollgesetz (The Law on Occupational Health and Safety Controls) for the meat industry, which came into force in 2021. The problem with these laws, however, is their implementation; above all, there is a lack of controls in particular.

The control structures are also problematic, as there are different control bodies depending on the aspect. For example, working hours, occupational safety and accommodation are usually the responsibility of the respective trade supervisory authority and the employers' liability insurance association. The customs authorities' financial control of illegal work is responsible for illegal employment and compliance with the minimum wage. Since 2019, this has also applied to the issue of human trafficking - together with the Federal Criminal Police Office and the police of the federal states.

Lübbe speaks of the approximately 1.1 million migrant workers as the "invisibles", who make up about a third of the low-wage sector in Germany. In everyday life, the rest of society hardly ever meets these people, apart from brief contacts, for example at the front door with delivery service employees or in the office when the cleaning crew comes in the evening. These people also have neither the financial nor the time resources to - as the sociologists say - participate in society. According to the sociologist Gerhard Bosch, they are the "ugly edge" of our prosperity.

Recognising Injustice – Practice Early!

Poverty and (social) injustice are also topics in current children's non-fiction books. Inka Friese and illustrator Sarah Tabea Hinrichs explain to children aged 7 and over why poverty and wealth exist in Das ist doch unfair! (That is unfair!). In it, children talk about what poverty means for them in concrete terms, namely no birthday parties and holidays and electricity being switched off every now and then. The 40-page book also establishes larger contexts. It quickly becomes clear that a lot depends on money. So the book explains why some people have a lot of money and others have little - and why money exists at all, why the state also needs money and whether everyone has the same chances of becoming rich or poor - not only in Germany, but also in other countries.

In addition to the material foundations of poverty and wealth, it also deals with prejudices and the definition of happiness. Stiftung Lesen praises Das ist doch unfair! as a “vivid non-fiction book that explains social inequality for primary school children in an understandable way with the help of many pictures... An all-round beautifully designed and informative book that explores these serious topics in a comprehensible and child-friendly way.”

You Have to Fight for Justice

In Voll ungerecht! (Totally unjust!), Assata Frauhammer and illustrator Meike Töpperwien explore the topic of justice. Because what is fair, they realise at the beginning, is not so easy to decide because everyone has a different perspective and a different sense of justice. Moreover, unequal treatment can be fair in some cases. By addressing related topics and concepts such as fairness, conscience and ethics, the content becomes more and more in-depth. Numerous facets of content such as the discussion of distributive justice, equal opportunities or fair trade complete the book.

It becomes clear that it is not possible to define what is fair once and for all. After all, how should we determine what someone is entitled to? In terms of performance? On neediness? Or on the chance of birth? And who actually decides what is fair? Agreements, rules and laws are helpful in the practical realisation of justice. Especially when laws are broken, it is then a matter of punishment - including the question of whether there should be the death penalty. Stiftung Lesen also recommends this work: “An important book for sensitising children at an early age to positive coexistence and the issues of our time”. Both children's non-fiction books end with a similar appeal: You have to fight for equal opportunities and a fairer world.

01/2025